nuary
and 23 February 1997 (next to be held in late 2001); in the first
round of voting some candidates won clear victories by receiving 50%
or more of the vote; where that did not happen, the two highest
scoring candidates stood for a second round of voting

election results: percent of vote by party - NA%; seats by party -
MPS 65, URD 29, UNDR 15, RDP 3, others 13

Judicial branch: Supreme Court; Court of Appeal; Criminal Courts;
Magistrate Courts

Political parties and leaders: National Union for Development and
Renewal or UNDR [Saleh KEBZABO]; Patriotic Salvation Movement or MPS
[Mahamat Saleh AHMAT, chairman] (originally in opposition but now
the party in power and the party of the president); Rally for
Democracy and Progress or RDP [Lal Mahamat CHOUA]; Union for Renewal
and Democracy or URD [Gen. Wadal Abdelkader KAMOUGUE]

Political pressure groups and leaders: NA

International organization participation: ACCT, ACP, AfDB, BDEAC,
CEEAC, CEMAC, ECA, FAO, FZ, G-77, IBRD, ICAO, ICFTU, ICRM, IDA, IDB,
IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, Intelsat, Interpol, IOC, ITU, NAM, OAU,
OIC, OPCW, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UPU, WCL, WHO, WIPO, WMO,
WToO, WTrO

Diplomatic representation in the US: chief of mission: Ambassador
Hassaballah Abdelhadi Ahmat SOUBIANE

chancery: 2002 R Street NW, Washington, DC 20009

telephone: [1] (202) 462-4009

FAX: [1] (202) 265-1937

Diplomatic representation from the US: chief of mission: Ambassador
Christopher E. GOLDTHWAIT

embassy: Avenue Felix Eboue, N'Djamena

mailing address: B. P. 413, N'Djamena

telephone: [235] (51) 70-09, (51) 90-52, (51) 92-33

FAX: [235] (51) 56-54

Flag description: three equal vertical bands of blue (hoist side),
yellow, and red; similar to the flag of Romania; also similar to the
flags of Andorra and Moldova, both of which have a national coat of
arms centered in the yellow band; design was based on the flag of
France

Chad Economy

Economy - overview: Landlocked Chad's economic development suffers
from its geographic remoteness, drought, lack of infrastructure, and
political turmoil. About 85% of the population depends on
agriculture, including the herding of livestock. Of Africa's
Francophone countries, Chad benefited least from the 50% devaluation
of their currencies in January 1994. Financial aid from the World
Bank, the African Development Fund, and other sources is directed
largely at the improvement of agriculture, especi